WTEM (980 AM) is a commercial

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

licensed to serve

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Owned by

Audacy, Inc. Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corporation, it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning 235 radio stations across 48 media ...

, the station services the

Washington metropolitan area The Washington metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the National Capital Region, is the metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C. The metropolitan area includes all of Washington, D.C. and parts of the states of Maryland, Virgin ...

as the flagship station of the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast D ...

. WTEM is also the co-flagship station of the

Maryland Terrapins The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divis ...

(shared with Audacy-owned

WJZ-FM WJZ-FM (105.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Catonsville, Maryland, and serving the Baltimore metropolitan area. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. through licensee Audacy License, LLC, and it broadcasts a sports radio format ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

), and is the Washington affiliate of

Fox Sports Radio Fox Sports Radio is an American sports radio network. Based in Los Angeles, California, the network is operated and managed by Premiere Networks in a content partnership with Fox Corporation's Fox Sports division and iHeartMedia, parent company ...

History

WRC era

Riggs Bank building with WRC radio towers (1923)

The station was originally licensed in April 1923 as WRC—the

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

having represented the original owner's name, the

Radio Corporation of America The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

(RCA). The station's original frequency was 469 meters (equal to 640 kHz). It was shared time with another Washington station, WCAP. The time-sharing arrangement between the two stations continued until 1926, when RCA purchased WCAP's share. WRC was a charter

network affiliate In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or a ...

of the

National Broadcasting Company The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

when it launched in November 1926. NBC split its programming into two networks two months later and WRC was assigned to the

Red Network Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondary ...

. NBC's other radio chain, the

Blue Network The Blue Network (previously known as the NBC Blue Network) was the on-air name of a now defunct American Commercial broadcasting, radio network, which broadcast from 1927 through 1945. Beginning as one of the two radio networks owned by the N ...

, had no affiliate in the national capital until RCA entered into a lease agreement with WMAL in 1933. WRC and WMAL would become ''de facto''

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

s during the lease term, which ran for eight years. WRC moved its frequency to 950 AM in 1928, and then shifted to 980 AM in 1941 as a result of the

North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement The North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA, es, Convenio Regional Norteamericano de Radiodifusión) refers to a series of international treaties that defined technical standards for AM band (mediumwave) radio stations. These agreem ...

(NARBA). RCA/NBC later launched WNBW television (channel 4, now

WRC-TV WRC-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Washington, D.C., airing programming from the NBC network. It is owned-and-operated station, owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Class A television se ...

) and WRC-FM (93.9 MHz, now

WKYS WKYS (93.9 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Washington, D.C. The station is owned by Urban One through licensee Urban One Licenses, LLC, and broadcasts an Urban Contemporary radio format. It is co-owned with WMMJ, WOL, WPRS-FM, an ...

), with both stations signing on in 1947. For its first couple of decades, WRC-FM mostly

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...

WRC. One popular WRC show featured

Willard Scott Willard Herman Scott Jr. (March 7, 1934 – September 4, 2021) was an American weather presenter, radio and television personality, actor, narrator, clown, comedian, and author, whose broadcast career spanned 68 years, 65 years with the NBC bro ...

and

Ed Walker Ed Walker may refer to: * Ed Walker (radio personality) (1932–2015), American radio personality * Ed Walker (American football), American football player and coach of football and basketball * Ed Walker (American football official), NFL official ...

as the ''

Joy Boys The ''Joy Boys'' was a popular daily improvised comedy radio show in Washington, D.C., between 1955 and 1974 that launched the broadcast careers of the program's co-hosts Willard Scott and Ed Walker. The two did various skits and satirized promin ...

'' from 1955 to 1972. WRC also carried the ''

Monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, West Vir ...

'' radio program on weekends. From 1972 to 1975, WRC broadcast a

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

format and was known as the ''Great 98''. A popular DJ on WRC was

Doug Tracht Doug Tracht is an American radio, television, and movie personality. He is nicknamed "The Greaseman". Personal Tracht was born and grew up in the South Bronx with his younger sister, Diana, and parents, Alfred and Gertrude Tracht. His father was ...

, known as the "Greaseman," who would later host mornings for many years on

WWDC-FM WWDC (101.1 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station in Maryland, near Washington, D.C. The station is owned by iHeartMedia through licensee iHM Licenses, LLC, and broadcasts an alternative rock radio format. Studios and offices are in Rockville, M ...

and in

radio syndication Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and radio programs to multiple television stations and radio stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in the United States where ...

News and talk

WRC switched to an

all-news radio All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to the discussion and broadcast of news. All-news radio is available in both local and syndicated forms, and is carried on both major US satellite radio networks. All-news stations can run the ...

format, using the "NBC News and Information Service" (NIS) from 1975 to 1977. After the NIS network was discontinued, the station aired its own all-news format, competing with established all-news station WTOP. It switched to a

news/talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

format in 1979. The talk programming included the first pairing of political writers

Pat Buchanan Patrick Joseph Buchanan (; born November 2, 1938) is an American paleoconservative political commentator, columnist, politician, and broadcaster. Buchanan was an assistant and special consultant to U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, an ...

and

Tom Braden Thomas Wardell Braden (February 22, 1917 – April 3, 2009) was an American CIA official, journalist (best remembered as the author of ''Eight Is Enough'', which spawned a television program), and co-host of the CNN show ''Crossfire''. Inte ...

, who became the original hosts of

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

's ''

Crossfire A crossfire (also known as interlocking fire) is a military term for the siting of weapons (often automatic weapons such as assault rifles or sub-machine guns) so that their arcs of fire overlap. This tactic came to prominence in World War I. ...

'', as well as satirist

Mort Sahl Morton Lyon Sahl (May 11, 1927 – October 26, 2021) was a Canadian-born American comedian, actor, and social satirist, considered the first modern comedian. Sahl pioneered a style of social satire that pokes fun at political and current event t ...

, psychologist Karen Shanor and former Philadelphia talk-show host Jerry Williams. Jack Doniger hosted an evening sports-talk show. The AM's former Top 40 format was moved to WRC-FM and later evolved into a

disco music Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric piano ...

format in the late 1970s as WKYS "Kiss FM." When the disco format cooled, WKYS evolved to an

Urban Contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contem ...

format. NBC sold WRC to

Greater Media Greater Media, Inc., known as Greater Media, was an American media company that specialized in radio stations. The markets where they owned radio stations included Boston, Detroit, Philadelphia, Charlotte, and the state of New Jersey. The compa ...

in 1984 as it began its exit from radio ownership. FCC rules at the time did not allow two separately-owned stations to share a call sign. Since NBC retained WRC-TV and the right to the call sign, the AM station became WWRC. The station remained the Washington affiliate of the NBC Radio Network well into the late 1980s. With the sale, the station changed to a full-service Middle of the Road format, of popular music, talk and information, on September 1, 1984. During the early 1990s, WWRC was the home to popular shows hosted by

Joe Madison Joseph (Joe) Madison (born June 16, 1949), alternatively known as "The Black Eagle" or "Madison", is an American radio talk-show host and activist heard daily on SiriusXM Urban View. Career Radio career Madison began his broadcasting career in ...

Mark Davis Mark Davis may refer to: Entertainers *Mark Davis (talk show host), American radio talk show host * Mark Jonathan Davis (born 1965), American actor/singer and creator of Richard Cheese *Mark Davis, American bassist and founding member for the band ...

and Joel A. Spivak. It was also one of the brief homes for the last radio show to be hosted by

Morton Downey, Jr. Sean Morton Downey Jr. (December 9, 1932 – March 12, 2001) was an American television talk show host and actor who pioneered the "Tabloid talk show, trash TV" format in the late-1980s on his program ''The Morton Downey Jr. Show''. Early life ...

(the other being WRC's former sister station

WTAM WTAM (1100 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, and carries a news/talk/sports format commonly known as "Newsradio WTAM 1100". Owned by iHeartMedia, WTAM serves Greater Cleveland and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio ...

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

). By the mid-1990s, WWRC was a full-time talk station. Two weeks prior to swapping call signs and formats, in February 1998, WWRC dropped its talk radio format for a financial news and talk format, one that would last over to a second dial position move to

1260 Year 1260 ( MCCLX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Africa * October 24 – Saif ad-Din Qutuz, Mamluk sultan of Egypt, is assassinated by Baibars, who seiz ...

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that on ...

SportsTalk Radio 570 - The Team

Before moving to 980 kHz, WTEM was known as ''Sports Radio 570 - The Team'' and on the frequency of 570 kHz. It previously had been used by

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

station WGMS. WTEM made its debut at 3:30 p.m. on May 24, 1992, right after the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

. At the beginning, WTEM emulated the program lineup and even imported the jingles from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

WFAN WFAN (660 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to New York, New York, carrying a sports radio format known as "Sports Radio 66 AM and 101.9 FM" or "The Fan". Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station serves the New York metropolitan area while ...

, the first all-

sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on-ai ...

station in the United States. At the beginning, Paul Harris hosted the morning show between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' columnist

Tony Kornheiser Anthony Irwin Kornheiser (; born July 13, 1948) is an American television sports talk show host and former sportswriter and columnist. Kornheiser is best known for his endeavors in three forms of media: as a writer for ''The Washington Post'' from ...

took over in late mornings, and

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W 5 ...

announcer/ WUSA sportcaster

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

hosted early afternoons. Kevin Kiley and Rich "The Coach" Gilgallon hosted ''Kiley and the Coach'' during afternoon

drive time Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this c ...

, which emulated WFAN's highly successful ''

Mike and the Mad Dog ''Mike and the Mad Dog'' was an American sports radio show hosted by Mike Francesa and Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo that aired in afternoons on WFAN in New York City from September 1989 to August 2008. From 2002 the show was simulcast on television ...

'' radio program.

Jean Fugett Jean Schloss Fugett, Jr. (born December 16, 1951) is a former American football tight end in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins. He played college football at Amherst College. Early years Born and raised ...

and Ira Mellman anchored the night-time hours. WTEM also acquired the radio rights to broadcast the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

between 1992 and 1994. However, the ratings of WTEM struggled in the beginning. Harris was quickly replaced by Bruce Murray and Bob Berger in late 1992. WTEM introduced the syndicated ''

Imus in the Morning ''Imus in the Morning'' was a long-running radio show hosted by Don Imus. The show originated on June 2, 1968, on various stations in the Western United States and Cleveland, Ohio before settling on WNBC radio in New York City in 1971. In Octob ...

'' on July 19, 1993 to replace Murray and Berger in the 6–10 a.m. morning slot. For cost-cutting reasons, WTEM canceled ''Kiley and the Coach'', and shows hosted by Phil Wood (8 p.m. to midnight) and Rob Weingarten (midnight to 6 a.m.) at the end of 1994. After ''Kiley and the Coach'' was canceled, WTEM tried several afternoon-drive shows before it settled on Kornheiser live between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. and then replayed between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to boost the afternoon drive-time ratings until the show moved to

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". ...

in January 1998. After his contract not renewed by WMAL,

Ken Beatrice Kenneth Edward Beatrice (July 28, 1943 – December 6, 2015) was an American radio personality. He hosted a Washington, D.C.-area radio call-in sports show for 23 years, first on WMAL between 1973 and 1995, later on WTEM from 1995 to 2000. Early l ...

and his show, ''Sports Call'', moved to WTEM in late 1995. When ''The Tony Kornheiser Show'' launched in 1992, because Tony needed to focus on writing his "Style" column in the ''Washington Post'' weekly, he usually did not host the show on Thursdays. Usually

Andy Pollin Andrew Pollin (born August 3, 1958) is an American radio and TV personality. He currently co-hosts, with Rob Long, about half of the episodes of The Mid-Atlantic Sports Report on MASN. He helped launch Washington, D.C. sports talk station WTEM in ...

, the Sports Director at WTEM, would guest-host Tony's show on Thursdays. Between November 1995 and December 1996,

Warner Wolf Warner William Wolf (born November 11, 1937) is an American television and radio sports broadcaster, perhaps best known as a local news sports anchor in Washington, D.C. and New York City, and for his catchphrase "Let's go to the videotape!" He wa ...

was named the guest host of ''The Tony Kornheiser Show'' on Thursdays until he moved to New York as a sports anchor on

WCBS-TV WCBS-TV (channel 2) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside Riverhead, New York–licensed independent station WL ...

. Tony started to host on Thursdays when he was on

. When ''The Tony Kornheiser Show'' was on hiatus between November 14, 1997 and January 5, 1998, WTEM filled the 10 a.m.-1 p.m. slot with Kevin Kiley and the 4–7 p.m. slot with comedian Chuck Booms and Scott Linn. Booms joined WTEM as part of a stunt revolving the

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...

show ''Comics on Delivery,'' where viewers were asked write in and enlist the aid of comedians to help them get through experiences from daily life. Because of on-air wildness and inexperience, Booms was later paired with the experienced Kiley. When ''The Tony Kornheiser Show'' on

debuted on January 5, 1998, the show aired between 1–4 p.m. WTEM filled the 10 a.m.–1 p.m. time slot with Rick "Doc" Walker and

Al Koken AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...

hosting ''The Doc and Al Show'' and the 4–7 p.m. time slot with Kiley and Booms.

SportsTalk 980

On March 9, 1998, WTEM and WWRC swapped dial positions, with WTEM moving to the stronger 980 frequency. After the move, WTEM was branded as ''SportsTalk 980''. The lineups on March 9, 1998 are ''

'' (6–10 a.m.), ''The Doc and Al Show'' (10 a.m.–1 p.m.), ''

The Tony Kornheiser Show ''The Tony Kornheiser Show'' is a sports podcast talk show out of Washington, D.C., hosted by Tony Kornheiser, which was originally a sports radio talk show appeared on WTEM from 1992 to 1997; on ESPN Radio between 1998 and 2004; back on WTEM f ...

'' on

(1–4 p.m.), Kevin Kiley and Chuck Booms (4–7 p.m.) and

's ''Sports Call'' (7–10 p.m.). Because of poor ratings, ''Kiley and Booms'' were canceled on November 13, 1998, which happened to be Friday. WTEM moved the highly rated ''The Tony Kornheiser Show'' to the 4–7 p.m. slot as a tape delay show to replace Kiley and Booms. Kornheiser did not like the idea because he would lose the callers from the WTEM broadcasting area. WTEM moved ''The Doc and Al Show'' into the 1–4 p.m. slot and created a new show hosted by Rich Cook and Kris O'Donnell in the 10 a.m.–1 p.m. slot. When John Thompson resigned as the head coach of the men's basketball team at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

, WTEM moved ''The Doc and Al Show'' into the 10 a.m.–12 p.m. slot and invited Thompson to host a one-hour show within ''The Doc and Al Show'' (10:30-11:30 a.m.) called ''Timeout with Thompson'' starting March 3, 1999 before the 1999 NCAA Tournament began. At the same time, WTEM introduced ''

The Jim Rome Show ''The Jim Rome Show'' is a sports radio talk show hosted by Jim Rome. It airs live for three hours each weekday from 9 a.m. to noon Pacific Time. The show is produced in Los Angeles, syndicated by CBS Sports Radio, and can be heard on affilia ...

'', assigned it into the 12–3 p.m. slot. Between ''The Jim Rome Show'' and ''The Tony Kornheiser Show'', there was a one-hour program called ''The Playground'' hosted by WTEM news anchors. After the 1999 NCAA Tournament, because of the positive reviews, Thompson was named the host of ''The John Thompson Show'' airing 10 a.m.–12 p.m. with Walker and Koken as co-hosts, replacing ''The Doc and Al Show''. On September 13, 1999,

moved ''The Tony Kornheiser Show'' to his favorite 10 a.m.–1 p.m. slot to make room for ''

The Dan Patrick Show ''The Dan Patrick Show'' is a syndicated radio and television sports talk show, hosted by former ESPN personality Dan Patrick. It is currently produced by Patrick and is syndicated to radio stations by Premiere Radio Networks, within and indepen ...

''. WTEM accommodated the move by moving ''The John Thompson Show'' to 3–5 p.m., reducing ''The Jim Rome Show'' to 2 hours and creating a new program called ''The Sports Reporters'' hosted by Andy Pollin between 5–7 p.m. After the new lineup announced,

Jim Rome James Phillip Rome (born October 14, 1964) is an American sports radio host. His talk show, ''The Jim Rome Show'', is syndicated by CBS Sports Radio. Broadcasting from a studio near Los Angeles, California, Rome hosts ''The Jim Rome Show'' o ...

voiced his displeasure on the air, attacked Kornheiser and demanded WTEM to get his third hour back. In ''The Sports Reporters'',

Steve Czaban ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...

began as a news anchor. Later on, Czaban became the co-host with Andy Pollin. On April 20, 2000, veteran sports talk personality

retired. His show, ''Sports Call'', was replaced by

in the 7 p.m.-10 p.m. slot. On April 9, 2001, WTEM became a secondary

affiliate, picking up ESPN's ''

Mike and Mike in the Morning ''Mike & Mike'' (formerly ''Mike and Mike in the Morning'') was an American sports-talk radio show that was hosted by Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic on ESPN networks from 2000–2017. The show aired on ESPN Radio, and was simulcast on televis ...

'' (6–9 a.m.) and Fox's ''The

Tony Bruno Anthony Joseph Bruno (born June 13, 1952) is an American sports talk radio host. He has worked for national American sports broadcasters including ESPN Radio, Fox Sports Radio, Premiere, and Sporting News Radio. Early life His father served in b ...

Extravaganza'' (9–10 a.m.). Both shows replaced ''

'', which moved to WTNT to boost the station's ratings. Czaban's evening program would also be picked up nationwide by

later that year; the show would be moved by the network to morning drive in January 2005, with WTEM followed suit later that year. On May 23, 2002, WTEM celebrated its tenth anniversary as a sports talk station with a special ''Sports Reporters'' show starting at 5 p.m. From December 2003 until January 2005,

WWRC WWRC (570 AM) – branded ''AM 570 The Answer'' – is a commercial conservative talk radio station licensed to serve Bethesda, Maryland. Owned by the Salem Media Group, the station services the Washington metro area and is the market affiliate ...

, by this point on the 1260 kHz frequency, carried a complementary sports/talk format as "SportsTalk 1260." WWRC carried the majority of Fox Sports Radio's lineup, simulcast WTEM's afternoon programming, and picked up Jim Rome in its entirety, enabling WTEM to become an exclusive ESPN Radio outlet (save for Czaban's syndicated program). In December 2005, the station's studios were moved from Bethesda, Maryland, to 1801 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, to consolidate Clear Channel's Washington operation. Because of

's preparation for ESPN's ''

Monday Night Football ''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, AB ...

'', ''The Tony Kornheiser Show'' on WTEM ended on April 28, 2006 and Kornheiser eventually left for WTWP. Starting on May 1, 2006, ''The Sports Reporters with Andy Pollin and

'' filled in the 9 a.m.-12 p.m. slot, a new show hosted by Brian Mitchell and

Bram Weinstein Bram N. Weinstein is an American sportscaster who is the play by play broadcaster for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He previously worked at ESPN from 2008 to 2015, most notably as a host for ''SportsCenter''. ...

aired between 12 p.m. and 3 p.m., and ''The John Thompson Show'' was extended through 7 p.m. In early June 2006, ''The Brian Mitchell Show'' changed again. Bram Weinstein left WTEM and was replaced by Kevin Sheehan. Starting February 12, 2007, ''The Brian Mitchell Show'' moved to the 10 a.m.–1 p.m. slot, ''The John Thompson Show'' moved to the 1 p.m.–4 p.m. slot and ''The Sports Reporters with Andy Pollin and

'' filled in the 4 p.m.–7 p.m. slot. On April 30, 2007, Doc Walker went solo and hosted ''The Doc Walker Show'' from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

WTTG WTTG (channel 5) is a television station in Washington, D.C., airing programming from the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNetworkTV outlet WDCA (channel 20). WTTG and WDCA share ...

's Dave Feldman and

Comcast SportsNet NBC Sports Regional Networks is the collective name for a group of regional sports networks in the United States that are primarily owned and operated by the NBCUniversal division of the cable television company Comcast. The networks were origina ...

's Carol Maloney hosted a new show called ''Feldman and Maloney'' between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Brian Mitchell moved to ''The John Thompson Show'' as co-host. Regarding going solo, Walker said, "Management came to me and I thought that it was time to do my own show. If you are lucky enough to get a chance to do your own show you would be foolish not to take it. I will miss Al and Coach, but it was a perfect time for me to go out on my own." On May 26, 2007, Phil Wood returned to WTEM, and hosted a weekly baseball show from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. Then, on October 22, 2007, ''

'', syndicated by the ''Content Factory'', was back on WTEM in the 11 a.m.–1 p.m. slot as a tape delay show, replacing ''Feldman and Maloney''. Both hosts were dropped following the merger of WTEM with Triple X ESPN Radio.

Triple X ESPN Radio

In 2006, WBZS-FM (92.7 FM,

Prince Frederick, Maryland Prince Frederick is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Calvert County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Prince Frederick was 3,226, up from 2,538 in 2010. It is the county seat of Cal ...

), along with sister stations WBPS-FM (94.3 FM,

Warrenton, Virginia Warrenton is a town in Fauquier County, Virginia, of which it is the seat of government. The population was 9,611 at the 2010 census, up from 6,670 at the 2000 census. The estimated population in 2019 was 10,027. It is at the junction of U.S. R ...

) and WKDL (730 AM,

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Downto ...

), were sold to

Red Zebra Broadcasting Red Zebra Broadcasting was a sports marketing company headquartered in Rockville, Maryland. The company owned and operated four radio stations in the greater Washington, D.C. radio market, one in Hampton Roads, VA, and two stations in Richmond, ...

—a company controlled by Washington Redskins owner

Daniel Snyder Daniel Marc Snyder (born November 23, 1964) is an American businessman and owner of the Washington Commanders, an American football team belonging to the National Football League (NFL). He bought the team, then known as the Washington Redskins, ...

. On July 17, 2006, the two FM stations' Spanish

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as we ...

format ended to make way for

. The three stations became known as WWXT, WWXX, and WXTR, and the stations were collectively promoted as ''Triple X ESPN Radio''. The new

trimulcast In broadcasting, a trimulcast is a cluster of three radio stations and/or translators that play the same feed. Normally this is done in order to have full coverage of a certain area. Some stations use this technique to provide rimshot coverage in ...

cleared most of ESPN Radio's weekday programming, as well as a local show hosted by former Redskin

John Riggins Robert John Riggins (born August 4, 1949), nicknamed "Riggo" and "Diesel", is an American former professional football player who was a fullback in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Jets and Washington Redskins. He played col ...

. Red Zebra Broadcasting then purchased WTEM, WTNT (570 AM,

Gaithersburg, Maryland Gaithersburg ( ), officially the City of Gaithersburg, is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. At the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census, Gaithersburg had a population of 69,657, ...

) and

(1260 AM, Washington) from Clear Channel in a deal announced in 2008. WTEM became the new flagship of the Triple X ESPN Radio network, while WXTR became the Washington outlet for

ESPN Deportes ESPN Deportes (, ''ESPN Sports'') is an American multinational Spanish-language pay television sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (whi ...

. The deal also marked the return of Redskins football to WTEM; as mentioned above it had fronted the Redskins radio network from 1992 to 1994 while it was on 570 AM.

ESPN 980

When WTEM merged with Triple X ESPN Radio, the last hour of ''

The Herd with Colin Cowherd ''The Herd with Colin Cowherd'' is a sports radio, sports talk radio show hosted by Colin Cowherd on Fox Sports Radio and Fox Sports 1. The show features commentary on the day's sports news, perspective on other news stories, and interviews with ce ...

'' was eliminated, as well as the entire network show hosted by

Mike Tirico Mike Tirico (; born December 13, 1966) is an American sportscaster. He is currently the NFL play-by-play announcer on NBC's '' Sunday Night Football'', having replaced Al Michaels in 2022. From 2006 to 2015, Tirico served as a play-by-play an ...

and

Scott Van Pelt Scott Van Pelt (born ) is an American sportscaster and sports talk show host. He co-anchored the 11 p.m. edition of ''SportsCenter'' on ESPN, served as the co-host of ''SVP & Russillo'' alongside Ryen Russillo on ESPN Radio, and hosts various g ...

(the latter of whom graduated from the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of Mary ...

in the local area). WXTR temporarily remained in the simulcast until assuming a separate format as the Washington, DC affiliate of

ESPN Deportes Radio ESPN Deportes Radio was an American Spanish language sports radio network created and produced by Disney-owned ESPN. Programming included call-in talk shows and commentary from hosts about a full range of sporting events, including soccer, Ameri ...

on September 1, 2008. WXTR also served as the Spanish-language home of

games in 2008 and 2009. Due to the new contract with ESPN Radio that guaranteed a full clearance for ''Mike and Mike in the Morning'', Steve Czaban's morning show on Fox Sports Radio was dropped. That show, however, continued to be produced from WTEM's studios until Fox Sports Radio canceled the program in December 2009. On September 8, 2009, ''

'' returned to WTEM in the 10am-noon slot, dropping Cowherd's show entirely. Red Zebra flipped WTNT (570 AM) from its conservative talk format to sports/talk to " SportsTalk 570" on September 20, 2010, running the ESPN Radio network feed all day as a complement to WTEM. The station changed call signs to WSPZ on October 18, 2010, after Red Zebra sold WXTR to Metro Radio. WSPZ was the primary Washington-area affiliate of the

Virginia Cavaliers The Virginia Cavaliers, also known as ''Wahoos'' or ''Hoos'', are the athletic teams representing the University of Virginia, located in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers compete at the NCAA Division I level ( FBS for football), in the Atlantic C ...

radio network and acted as a backup station in the case of any play-by-play scheduling conflicts with WTEM. Red Zebra sold off all of its radio properties in 2017-18. WWXT went to

Urban One Urban One, Inc. (formerly Radio One) is a Silver Spring, Maryland-based American media conglomerate. Founded in 1980 by Cathy Hughes, the company primarily operates media properties targeting African Americans. It is the largest African-American-o ...

on April 20, and the station is now

WDCJ WDCJ (92.7 FM), known on air as "Majic 102.3 & 92.7," is an urban adult contemporary formatted radio station licensed to Prince Frederick, Maryland, and serving the southeastern Washington metropolitan area. The station's programming is a relay ...

and runs a simulcast of

WMMJ WMMJ (102.3 FM), known on air as "Majic 102.3 & 92.7," is a jammin' oldies-leaning urban adult contemporary radio station owned by Radio One in the Washington, D.C. market. It is co-owned with WKYS, WOL, WPRS-FM, WTEM and WYCB and has studios ...

. WWXX was sold to

Educational Media Foundation Educational Media Foundation (formerly EMF Broadcasting, abbreviated EMF) is an American nonprofit Christian media ministry based in Franklin, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville. EMF is the parent company of K-LOVE and Air1—the world's largest ...

and runs the K-Love

contemporary Christian music Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and s ...

network as WLZV. WSPZ was also sold to

Salem Media Group Salem Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: SALM; formerly Salem Communications Corporation) is an American radio broadcaster, Internet content provider, and magazine and book publisher formerly based in Camarillo, California (moved most operations to Ir ...

, and now airs a conservative

talk Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct ...

. Rights to University of Virginia sports remained with the new WWRC. On January 31, 2018, WTEM rebranded as ''The Team 980''.

Sale to Urban One, then Entercom

On May 21, 2018, Urban One announced its purchase of WTEM for $4.2 million, pending regulatory approval. As part of the sale, Urban One agreed to a rights deal with the Redskins to maintain the station's relationship with the team. Urban One told the ''

'' that it would keep sports programming on WTEM. The purchase was consummated on August 9, 2018. On June 13, 2019,

Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is an American broadcasting company and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 87 ...

announced that ESPN Radio would move to WMAL on July 1, 2019, as that station changed to full-time sports programming. Concurrently, WMAL announced it would carry Washington Redskins broadcasts, though WTEM remains the team's flagship station. Following the loss of ESPN Radio, WTEM rejoined Fox Sports Radio, airing its evening, overnight, and weekend lineups, while still featuring local hosts during the day on weekdays. In September 2019, WTEM added a 250 watt

FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...

, W240DJ, broadcasting from

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially unincorporated, in practice it is an edge city, with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 censu ...

at 95.9 MHz. On November 5, 2020, Urban One announced that it would swap WTEM and three other stations in Philadelphia and St. Louis to

Entercom Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corporation, it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning 235 radio stations across 48 media ...

, in exchange for its

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

stations. Entercom took over the stations under a

local marketing agreement In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it is a sort of lease or tim ...

on November 23. FM translator W240DJ was not included in the sale and remained with Urban One. The swap was consummated on April 20, 2021. On March 24, 2021, WTEM lost its longtime status as the Washington home of the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

to WSBN. On September 14, WTEM became the flagship station for the

Past local hosts and news reporters

*Rich Ackerman (currently at

and

Sirius Satellite Radio Sirius Satellite Radio was a satellite radio (SDARS) and online radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Holdings. Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, Sirius ...

) *

(deceased) *

Jack Harris Jack Harris may refer to: Entertainment * Jack Harris (film editor) (1905–1971), English film editor * Jack H. Harris (1918–2017), American film producer * Jack Harris (broadcaster) (born 1941), American radio personality based in Tampa, Florid ...

(WRC morning disc jockey, now at 970 WFLA) * Bob Berger (currently at

Sporting News Radio SportsMap is a sports radio Radio network, network that is distributed by Gow Media. The SportsMap Radio Network supplies its network affiliates with a 24-hour schedule of sports programming, including call-in shows and sports updates. Over its h ...

) *John Bisney (WRC) *

Jim Bohannon James Everett Bohannon (January 7, 1944 – November 12, 2022) was an American broadcaster who worked in both television and radio. He is best known for hosting the nationally syndicated late night radio talk show ''The Jim Bohannon Show'' orig ...

(WRC - currently at

Westwood One Westwood One is an American radio network There are two types of radio network currently in use around the world: the one-to-many (simplex communication) broadcast network commonly used for public information and mass-media entertainment, and ...

) *Camille Bohannan (WRC - currently at AP Radio) * Chuck Booms *

(WRC - deceased) *

(currently at

) *Rudy Brewington (WRC) *

(WRC - currently at

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...

) *Paul Butler (currently at

WBOC-TV WBOC-TV (channel 16) is a television station in Salisbury, Maryland, United States, affiliated with CBS and Fox. It is the flagship television property of the Milton, Delaware–based Draper Holdings Business Trust, and is co-owned with low-po ...

Salisbury, MD) *Jerry Coleman (currently at

WQLL WQLL (1370 AM) is a radio station broadcasting an all-news radio format. Licensed to Pikesville, Maryland, United States, a northwest suburb of the city in Baltimore County, it serves the Baltimore metropolitan area. The station is currently owne ...

) *Rich Cook *

*Richard Day (currently at WTOP) *Don Doke (WRC News) *Jack Donniger (WRC Sports) *Dave Feldman *Earl Forcey (currently at

) *Jean Fugett *Al Galdi * Rich Gilgallon (currently at

KKGX KKGX (920 AM) is a radio station licensed to Palm Springs, California, United States. The station is owned by Louie Comella through licensee IVOX MEDIA, LLC and serves the Coachella Valley area. Both KKGX and sister station KWXY are based in th ...

) * Wendell Goler (WRC - deceased) *Tina Gulland (WRC federal beat) *Paul Harris (currently at

KMOX KMOX (1120 AM) is a commercial radio station in St. Louis, Missouri. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it is a 50,000 watt Class A clear-channel station with a non-directional signal. The KMOX studios and offices are on Olive Street at Tucker Bouleva ...

) *John Irving (WRC) *Scott Jackson (currently at

WCMC-FM WCMC-FM (99.9 MHz) is a sports radio station based in Raleigh, North Carolina and licensed to nearby Holly Springs. Its studios are located in north Raleigh along with WRAL-FM, an adult contemporary music station, two sports talk stations WD ...

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

) * Kevin Kiley (currently at

and KSPN in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

) *Al Koken *

(Show is now heard on podcast) *Marge Kumaki (WRC) * Mitch Levy (currently at

KJR (AM) KJR (950 kHz) is an all-sports AM radio station owned by iHeartMedia in Seattle, Washington. KJR is the Puget Sound region's home of Fox Sports Radio and CBS Sports Radio, mostly carrying their national programming, while co-owned 93.3 KJR-FM ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

) *Scott Linn *

Mac McGarry Maurice James "Mac" McGarry (June 15, 1926 – December 12, 2013) was the longtime host of the television quiz show ''It's Academic'', which airs in Washington, D.C. on NBC-owned WRC-TV. He hosted the show for five decades, from October ...

(WRC booth announcer extraordinaire - deceased) *Carol Maloney *Ira Mellman *Dan Miller (currently at

WJBK-TV WJBK (channel 2) is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, airing programming from the Fox network. Owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division, the station maintains studios and transmitter faciliti ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

) * Brian Mitchell * Bruce Murray (currently at

*Paul Nanos (currently at FOX Sports Radio 1410 in Hartford, CT) *Kris O'Donnell (currently at

WDTN WDTN (channel 2) is a television station in Dayton, Ohio, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which provides certain services to Springfield, Ohio–licensed WBDT (channel 26), a ''de facto'' owned-and-opera ...

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...

) *Donna Penyak (WRC) * Tony Roberts (WRC Sports) *

(WRC) *

(WRC "The Joy Boys", top 40 jock in the mid 1970s - died in 2021) *Kevin Sheehan *

(aka "The Greaseman") (WRC) * John Thompson (Deceased) *Ed Walker (WRC "The Joy Boys" - deceased) * Rick "Doc" Walker *

Pam Ward Pam Ward is an on-air personality for the cable sports television network ESPN, serving as one of the play-by-play announcers for ESPN's coverage of the 2012 and 2013 Women's College World Series of Softball. She is a graduate of the University of ...

(currently at

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

) * Mark Weber (later at WTOP, currently Brand Manager at McFarlane Toys) *

(Now play-by-play voice of the

Washington Commanders The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) E ...

) *Rob Weingarten (currently at

KFNS (AM) KFNS (590 AM) – branded as 590 The Fan – is a commercial sports radio station licensed to serve Wood River, Illinois. Owned by Markel Entertainment LLC, the station services Greater St. Louis and is the market affiliate for Fox Sports Radio ...

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

) *

(formerly at WABC in

) *Phil Wood (WRC Sports and WTEM - currently at

MASN The Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) is an American regional sports network owned as a joint venture between two Major League Baseball franchises, the Baltimore Orioles (which owns a controlling 77% interest) and the Washington Nationals (which ...

)

References

External links

FCC History Cards for WTEM
*
The Great 98
* {{Audacy

TEM Tem or TEM may refer to: Acronyms * Threat and error management, an aviation safety management model. * Telecom Expense Management * Telecom Equipment Manufacturer * TEM (currency), local to Volos, Greece * TEM (nuclear propulsion), a Russian ...

1923 establishments in Washington, D.C. NBC Radio Network affiliates ESPN Radio stations RKO General Radio stations established in 1923 Silver Spring, Maryland Sports radio stations in the United States Audacy, Inc. radio stations